Why 2009 Will Be ‘The Year Of The PS3′
[By Anthony]
Ok, so last year was hailed by the people at Sony as ‘The Year Of The PS3′ and sure it’s sales have grown and the number of people adopting the system has increased pretty rapidly, but still there was the complaint that “the PS3 has no games”. Last year saw the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet, but even that didn’t convince many that Sony’s juggernaut of a console was worth dropping the cash on. I think that’s about to change. I’m about to put my neck on the line and say that 2009 will be officially ‘The Year Of The PS3′. Hit the jump to find out why.
The one thing that makes a person go out and spend £300 on a games console is the games. Sure, the Wii has cornered the casual market and Microsoft continue to drop the price on the 360 making it almost irresistable to the average gamer. Looking at what the two aformentioned companies have to offer consumers in 09, I can see a major difference between those and Sony. Microsoft and Nintendo are yet to release any kind of indication of what’s coming this year but Sony seem to have a lot of exclusives to tempt us gamers, here’s just a few of them:
- Killzone 2
- inFamous
- God Of War III
- A New Ratchet & Clank
- Uncharted 2
That’s a pretty good list. Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is still one of the best games on the console and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves can only build on that. Resistance 2 was a little hit and miss, but with Ratchet Insomniac have a well established series and hopefully they’ll better their last retail effort ‘Tools Of Destruction’. God Of War III has not been confirmed for 2009, but with the ammount of coverage it’s getting i’d be surprised if we didn’t see it towards the end of this year. Yet again, it’s an established franchise with a good fan base and I, personally, can see this being a system seller. Next we come to inFamous. A brand new IP from Sucker Punch, looks like something really cool and could tempt many to invest in a new console. Last but by no means least, Killzone 2. Guerilla set themselves a task of reaching what they had presented in a CG trailer almost four years ago, and by all accounts they’ve surpassed it. I think this might be the game to turn many a 360 fanboy and make them bow at the feet of Sony and the PlayStation 3. All of the above are really cool, but the ammount of exclusive PSN titles will give gamers another fantastic reason to invest in the console. I mean who dosen’t want to play Fat Princess?
Of course we don’t know what the other two companies have in store. Microsoft released Gears 2 last year and the Halo ‘expansion’ ODST will sell, but is unlikely to get more people to buy the system. In Alan Wake they have something potentially really cool, but nothing has really been heard of that for a while and the question is, are you sure it hasn’t been cancelled already? The only major game I can think of at the time of writing is Mass Effect 2, and now that EA owns BioWare I can’t see that being exclusive, because, as every gamer knows, EA like money.
Nintendo had a horrible Christmas period in terms of software and the ammount of shovelware seems to marr many hardcore gamers view on the console. Unless they come out with something special for the hardcore crowd, I can see their patience dwindling and those still clinging on being forced to invest in a true ‘next gen’ console.
All of the factors above will surely lead to the rise of the PS3 in 2009. Microsoft and Ninty are going to have to pull something special out of their arses to keep the hardcore gamers from coming over to the ‘dark side’. I’m sticking my neck out, but trust me 2009 is going to be a great year to be a PS3 owner.
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06 Jan 2009, 2:55 pm
excellent article. I have same feelings with you about PS3. The reason XBOX 360 sells more than PS3 is that you can play pirated and torrent games in XBOX 360 which kills the game studios. And Microsoft does nothing to prevent it. People can play games without paying any money, so they choose XBOX 360. But this wrong policy is like a bumerang, so when you allow piracy, it may turn back to you and cut your head off. So, Sony has the right consideration and with their policy, they are going to no.1 in 2009.
06 Jan 2009, 8:48 pm
Yeah, yeah…year of the PS3….blah,blah blah…and so on and so on. There are 3 or 4 games every year that are the ones that will make people go out and buy a PS3. It hasn’t happened. Not on the level Sony expected and nowhere near the level Sony needs. They have until March of this year to make a huge splash or it will go very bad. If they sell an extra million or so PS3s for Killzone, maybe Sony can start getting a little happy. If not, it’s cut, cut, cut. There will not be a year of the PS3 until the price hits $299. And if things don’t change for Sony soon, that won’t happen till Christmas if then.
06 Jan 2009, 11:16 pm
Your whole argument revolves around upcoming games for the PS3 (some may or may not be released this year, 2009). If anything, Nintendo have proven that you don’t need good software to sell consoles.
So what makes you think this year will be different? I think 2009 will be a repeat of 2007 and 2008. They will be destroyed by MS again! Nintendo will destroy everyone!!! Unfortunately….
06 Jan 2009, 11:42 pm
Sadly, i’ll have to disagree with you there. As I have said the console is only as good as the games that’re on it. Fair enough the PS3 had a rough launch and pretty much failed to impress of the software front, but both last year and this upcoming year Sony seem stronger than their competition. Microsoft don’t seem to have any big contenders and Nintendo’s big game for ’09 at the minute is Punch Out for the Wii. I did say that some of this was based on expectation, but please bear in mind i didn’t just go on a massive tirade about the other companies I weighed their options up too and, from a hardcore gamers standpoint, Sony seems to come out on top, whichever way you look at it.
07 Jan 2009, 1:01 am
I am a hardcore gamer who still remembers the first time I saw pong and I’ve been playing games since. I’ve seen the ups and downs of systems (aka Sega my first fanboy crush)… a moment of silence please.
2009 will be the year of PS3 for many reasons, the first being games. Sony exclusive games are just that… EXCLUSIVE! You wont be seeing any KZ2 on 360 6-12months from release, or be able to get it on PC as an alternative to playing it on a console. So with a line up to start the year as strong as Sony has, consoles will be moved.
Another factor in favor of the PS3 is BD capabilities. With American TV switching to HD, more people are getting HDTVs. Now once they get the HDTV home, they are wanting HD movies to watch which just so happen to play on PS3s.
Now the nail in the coffin is the fact that 360s continue to scratch discs and do the dance of the RRoD. Consumers get tired of having to ship them off or replace them time and time again. During this down time, they often run into proud PS3 owners and fanbois who are far to willing to let them check out what they have been missing. Wireless networking, keyboard and mouse support, Bluetooth and USB support right out of the box. BD movies, web browsing, Linux booting, and of coarse… HOME.
Home is going to change gaming forever. Heck the virtual world of the net as we know it. In time you will be able to order a pizza from Home and have it delivered right to your door (ok 5 years away maybe but it’s coming). Once they get the game spaces going, you wont need gaming lobbies as we know them. You will be able to just meet up, challenge and taunt the competition , plan your attack, and then launch the game. And this will just be the first official year of Home and already there is no competition.
2009 will be the year of PS3… but don’t take my word for it. Just watch and enjoy.
07 Jan 2009, 3:59 pm
Poor Xbox 360….not a single exclusive game in sight for 2009. A PS3 price cut would see Sony continue to embarass Microsoft’s abomination machine and the Xbox 360 will still be stuck with single – digit market share in Japan. Pitiful.